I arrived at Regina airport to thunderous applause. I just assumed they took Children’s Book Week very seriously in the Canadian heartland. There was even a woman holding a sign with my name. She was the head honcho children’s librarian for the city no less, and she came by to drive me to my hotel. The applause, however, was for the Rough Riders who had just crushed my very own BC Lions in the Western finals.
An author/storyteller tour in Rider Nation during the week before the Grey Cup deserves a football metaphor. My brilliant tour coordinator was the quarterback, the team was made up of dedicated public librarians and school librarians and I was … well, I was the football.
It was a five-day-long ground advance. I was handed off from one town to the next with perfect precision. I was never fumbled over 1200 km, 10 towns and 16 presentations. Whether it was storytelling to preschoolers in Pilot Butte, leading comedy writing workshops to grade 8s in Yorkton and Moose Jaw, speaking before adults in Estevan and Weyburn or talking about my books to the middle grades in Swift Current, Kennedy, Grand Coulee, Bienfait and Regina, there was no stopping my progress. 200 kids at a time, 100 kids a time or 25 kids crammed into a cozy warm library, it didn’t matter. I simply had nothing to fear.
And why, sports fans? Because Saskatchewan has no defense. The people are open and friendly. The children laugh with abandon or pause to ask thoughtful questions or rush out to greet you dressed as characters from your own book.
But as my week progressed, my audience grew greener and greener. A green shirt here or there peppered my early presentations, but soon there were green wigs and then finally came the green and white war paint. On Monday, I was playfully teased by my first group of students; regaled with a rousing rendition of the Rider Nation cheer: Green is the colour. Football is the game … and by Friday, I was publicly garlanded with a green necklace of my own. I was made an honorary member of Rider Nation and an honour it certainly was.
Of course, no trip to Saskatchewan is complete these days without a visit to the Corner Gas outdoor set. A school librarian from Moose Jaw dropped me off here to be met by the public librarian from Weyburn.
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